__NOTOC__ 18th Reconnaissance Regiment ( pl, 18 Pułk Rozpoznawczy) is a unit of the Polish Land Forces and is based in Białystok. It was formed from the former 18th Territorial Defense Battalion, which in turn was the former 18th Mechanized Brigade. It is the most recently formed unit of the Polish army, and one of three reconnaissance regiments.18 białostocki pułk rozpoznawczy otrzymał sztandar

History

On 23 April 2009 the Polish Minister of National Defense,

Bogdan Klich Bogdan Adam Klich (born on 8 May 1960 in Kraków) is a former Minister of National Defence of Poland. Son to Adam Klich. Bogdan Klich was interned in 1981 during the martial law set by the communist regime. Until November 16, 2007, he was a ...

, announced that the 18th Territorial Defense Battalion would be reorganized to create a reconnaissance regiment. The 18th Reconnaissance Regiment was formed on 1July 2009. On 15October 2009 the 18th Reconnaissance Regiment was authorised to use the standard of the 18th Territorial Defense Battalion until 15August 2010. On 11 November 2010, representatives of the 18th Reconnaissance Regiment, on behalf of the Minister of National Defense

, paid tribute at the grave of the late ordinary

orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

archbishop of the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stre ...

Miron Chodakowski Archbishop Miron (21 October 1957 – 10 April 2010), born Mirosław Chodakowski, was a Polish religious figure. Chodakowski was born in Białystok. He served as Orthodox Ordinary of the Polish Army until being killed in the 2010 Polish Air Fo ...

. The delegation was composed of the regimental commander Lieutenant Colonel Chris Lenkiewicz, Major Slawomir Ratyński and Captain Jan Busłowicz. The ceremony took place in the crypt church of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary located in Supraśl, near Bialystok. On 30 June 2011, the regiment received its regimental standard from Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski at a ceremony in Kosciuszko Square, Białystok before the monument to Marshal

Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Naczelnik państwa, Chief of State (1918–1922) and Marshal of Poland, First Marshal of Second Polish Republic, Poland (from 1920). He was ...

. In late 2012 the regiment was posted to Afghanistan as part of the 12th rotation of the Polish Military Contingent there. It was proposed in 2014 that the model used to form the 18th Reconnaissance Regiment be used to establish further units and form a new reconnaissance brigade to be stationed in North-West Poland. The regiment took part in the Lynx 15 military exercises in December 2015.

Regimental standard

The new standard bears the national colors and emblem, and also expresses symbolic elements associated with the Bialystok coat of arms and contains commemorative badges of merit from the military units formerly stationed there: * 18th Territorial Defense Battalion and prior the former 18th Mechanized Brigade * 18 Infantry Division ( pl, 18 Dywizji Piechoty) * 42 Infantry Regiment im General

Jan Henryk Dąbrowski Jan Henryk Dąbrowski (; also known as Johann Heinrich Dąbrowski (Dombrowski) in German and Jean Henri Dombrowski in French; 2 August 1755 – 6 June 1818) was a Polish general and statesman, widely respected after his death for his patri ...

( pl, 42 Pułku Piechoty) * 10 Lithuanian Cavalry Regiment ( pl, 10 Pułku Ułanów Litewskich) Prop 10pul

Organization

The regiment has the following component sub-units: * Regimental Command Staff * Command Company * Logistics Company * 1st Reconnaissance Company * 2nd Reconnaissance Company * 3rd Reconnaissance Company * 4th Reconnaissance Company * 5th Reconnaissance Company * 6th Reconnaissance Company

References

{{reflist Regiments of Poland's land forces Army reconnaissance regiments Military units and formations established in 2009